Esme Remembers
by TatianaMik
Summary: The story of Carlisle & Esme. Currently a work in progress. Un-beta-ed.


**A/N**: This is the romance of Esme & Carlise from Esme's point of view. I started to write this from Carlise's POV But as I was writing it I found that Esme's voice came more naturally to me. I'm trying to stick closely with the backstory Stephenie Meyer set up for them and yet flesh out the story as well.

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[Esme's Point of View. Starts during Breaking Dawn, chapter 3]

I smiled at Edward's nervousness. He so rarely was nervous. My oldest son. And today he was making his vows to commit himself to Bella. So in a way I was gaining another daughter at the same time. She was different. Human still, but that was their decision. I was happy that they are happy. For so long Edward was the odd person out. Rosalie had found Emmett just two years after she was changed. Alice & Jasper had come as a matched pair. And even though Jasper was much older than I he still let me take the mother role. They were all my kids despite the nontraditional makeup of our family. I had never gotten the baby I lost. I still have a bad day every year on the anniversary of my son's death even now 85 years later.

Alice walked down the stairs and up the aisle and Rosalie changed the music to the traditional bridal march. Edward's face lit up as he caught sight of Bella. I glanced at the man standing beside Edward. Carlisle felt me watching him and turned & smiled. Eighty-five years and his gentle smile could still soothe my soul. I only wish that we could have met as humans, married, had children & grown old together. But life is messy and we've carved out a life for ourselves.

I still remember the day I first met him. I hadn't known what he truly was. I was 16 and had climbed a tree to help my younger brother get down. He got down safely, but I fell and broke my leg. My father wasn't very happy with me. He was happy that I took care of my brothers as a woman was supposed to, but he was frustrated that I had no marital prospects. My brothers were getting old enough to help on the farm. Charlie, my oldest brother rode out to fetch the doctor, but quickly returned to report that Dr. Mason was out of town to attend to his mother. So father had to load me in the wagon. The trip to the hospital in Columbus seemed to take forever. It was dark when we arrived.

The nurse on desk duty quickly called the orderlies when she saw my lower leg bent at an unusual angle. Once they placed me on a gurney and moved me to the emergency ward. They gently placed me on a bed and assured me that the doctor would be in shortly.

When he arrived I thought a Greek statue had stepped down off his pedestal and walked into the emergency ward. His blonde hair was slicked back from his face in the current fashion. His skin was like the finest alabaster marble that my friend Mary had showed to me. Mary's father, a carpenter, had brought her a small broken piece home from some big fancy project he was working on. And his eyes, his beautiful golden eyes. I had never seen eyes like that before. Those golden eyes were kind.

I could tell that at first glance I had never met another who was kinder. He hesitated at the privacy curtain before heading to my bedside. I felt myself drawn to him.

"What seems to be the problem this evening, Miss Platt?" he asked in a musical tone like bells ringing.

I had to swallow before I could speak to him. "I climbed a tree to get my younger brother down and I fell. I think it's broken." I indicated my left leg, which was at an awkward angle.

"Yes , it certainly looks like it," he stated. "Let me see. I am sorry my hands may be cold." He started just below my left knee with a cool light touch & slowly moved down my leg.

"My mama used to say, 'Cold Hands, Warm Heart.'" I smiled faintly. Even after the last few years I still missed her.

"Sounds like a smart woman."

I gasped as he reached the bent area, but more so with the expectation of pain than in actual pain. His touch was so gentle.

"I am afraid that it needs to be set. I will get the nurse to give you some morphine before we get started. I will be right back, just let me tell the nurse the equipment I need."

He was back quickly with the nurse. After the morphine shot, he quickly set the bone as gently as he could. He then set about applying the plaster cast ever so tenderly. I started a conversation with his as he was working with the plaster. He seemed so kind & gentle. He was well read; we discussed Shakespeare & Milton as well as Poe & Dickens. He would occasionally have to leave to treat a new arrival, but he was always back soon. He was always so quiet one minute I'd be alone except for the nurse at the desk and the next he would be beside me. Once I dozed off while awaiting his return and I awakened to discover he was beside me watching me sleep, he said that it was the most peaceful sleep he had seen in a long time.


End file.
